A drug commonly used to manage symptoms of Alzheimer disease and other dementias—donepezil—is associated with a two-fold higher risk of hospital admission for rhabdomyolysis, a painful condition of muscle breakdown, compared with several other cholinesterase inhibitors, found a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Dementia is a growing problem, with almost 10 million newly diagnosed cases every year around the world.
The study, led by researchers at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Lawson Health Research Institute, looked at ICES data from 2002 to 2017 on 220 353…